Shuttle



Aug. 10, 1937.

' INVEN TOR.

SHUTTLE Filed March 31, 1934 xvyflmal'lie I MM A TTORNEYS.

Patented Aug. 10, 1937 NETED STAES PATENT OEFIQE 11 Claims.

This invention relates to a shuttle more particularly a shuttle for use in a so-called automatic loom in which the full bobbin is driven into the shuttle, and the empty bobbin driven out, the

5 bobbin being held between two spring jaws; and

this invention has for one of its objects the provision of a guide for the bobbin which will permit of the use of bobbins of variously positioned rings in the shuttle Without manual adjustment 10 of this guide.

Another object of the invention is the provision of movable parts which will move one upon the other with the minimum amount of surf-ace engagement.

15 Another object of the invention is the provision of a guide which will be fixed for the maximum distance of the rings on the head of the bobbin from the end thereof with an adjuster member for accommodating variation from this maximum distance.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a device for accommodating different size bobbins which may be added to the standard'shwttle without changing any of the parts thereof.

A further object of'the invention is the provision of a construction which will be exceedingly inexpensive to manufacture and assemble and yet one by which the use of bobbins of various sizes may be accommodated.

30 With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, as will be more fully described, and particularly pointed out inthe appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. l is a top planview of fragmental portion of the shuttle, showing my guiding device as mounted therein and accommodating a maximum length bobbin;

Fig. 2 is a sectional View through the end of 40 the shuttle of Figure- 1;

Fig. 3 is-a top plan. view illustrating a bobbin positioned in the shuttle on which the distance of the rings from the end of the head is less than that illustrated in Fig. l; V

45 Fig. 4 is asectional view on a larger scale on line 44 of Figure 2;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of my adjuster member;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view looking at the back 50 of the adjuster member;

Fig. '7 is a fragmental perspective view of a section taken on substantially line 7-4! of Figure 1; Fig. 8 is a-perspective View showing a bobbin as projecting out of a shuttle not equipped with 55 my invention and in relation to the warp threads to cause a smash, which sometimes occurs in weaving.

A shuttle for automatic loom is provided with a pair of spring jaws with a metal bobbin guide consisting of a strip of metal folded upon itself and with the fold projecting between these jaws. When the bobbin for the shuttle is driven into these jaws the end of the bobbin is directed into its proper position by the guide which remains in such close proximity to this bobbin that should 10 the free end of the bobbin chance to spring out of the opening between the sides of the shuttle, this metal guide would engage the end of the bobbin and prevent such movement. In order that there be a relation between the bobbin and the shuttle such that this will occur, the ring on the end of the bobbin which the jaws engage must be located a certain definite distance from the end of the bobbin. When the automatic shuttle and bobbin first were put in use and for a considerable length of time this distance was always kept at a definite amount so that no variation to any appreciable extent occurred. More recently, however, there has appeared bobbins on which the rings are positioned at different distances from the end of the bobbin and when a bobbin with the rings positioned close to the end is positioned in an automatic shuttle with a guide set to take a bobbin having a longer distance between the end and the lower ring, a smash in the loom will occur because this shorter bobbin will swing upwardly at its end and engage the warp threads and tear them. Thus. it has been necessary to very carefully watch and see that no bobbin is used which has varying distances of the rings on the bobbin, and in order to provide a shuttle which may be made so that it will take varying distance rings on the bobbins without there being a smash in the loom, I have provided an adjuster member which will move resiliently towards the end of the bobbin having the rings nearer the end and supply sufficient pressure so that it cannot swing out of the shuttle to cause a smash and which when a larger or longer bobbin is put into the shuttle will move back by reason of its resilient mounting and accommodate this longer distance rings from the end of the bobbin, and I have so arranged the parts of my construction that they may be applied to a standard shuttle without cutting or changing any of the and thus I utilize the fixed guide which is now present in the shuttle and simply mount the adjuster member inside of it with the spring back of the adjuster member to. force it into engagement with the end of the bobbin, and I thus provide a metal surface for the sliding engagement of the parts which is of a very small amount so that the friction of movement is at a minimum; and the following is a more detailed description of the present embodiment of this invention illustrating the preferred means by which these advantageous results may be accomplished.

With reference to the drawing, ll] designates the wooden body portion of a shuttle which is provided with an opening ll for the reception of a bobbin l2 and leaving thin opposite side walls at one end l3 of this opening there is provided a pair of spring jaws l4 formed from a piece of spring steel folded upon itself as at l5 and provided with a supporting member 16 which is held in place by a bolt il. having a head l8 sunk in a recess E9 in one side of the shuttle and is threaded into a nut sunk in the recess 2| in the opposite side of the shuttle. M are provided with grooves 22 for the reception of the metal rings 23 encircling the hub 24 of the bobbin l2. The full bobbin is forced into the jaws and an empty bobbin at the same time ejected from between the spring jaws, the empty bobbin dropping out through the open bottom of the shuttle.

A bobbin guide designated generally 25 is located between the spring jaws i i and consists of a metal band or strip folded upon itself into a generally U-shape providing a bottom arm 25 and a top arm 21, which arms straddle the fold l5 and, supporting member l6 of the jaws with the top arm secured rigidly in position to the wooden bodyof the shuttle by a wood screw 28. This top arm 2'! is inclined as at 29 to provide a guiding surface to direct the full bobbin into its proper relation between the jaws and where a bobbin of a certain length is used, the portion 38 between the end ring 31 and the end 32 of the bobbin will just contact with the fold of this fixed guide 25 when the rings are gripped in the grooves 22 of the spring jaws, and thus this bobbin cannot tilt upwardly or downwardly with reference to the shuttle, but rather is supported in the position shown in Figure 2 against such rocking.

This foregoing detail is standard construction and used largely in shuttles at the present time.

Occasionally a bobbin 35, such as shown in Figure 3, is driven into the shuttle in which the portion of the hub 36 between the end ring 3'5 and the end 38 of the bobbin is of a distance less than the portion 30 of the hub of bobbin shown in Figure 1, and in this case the bobbin has no support on the end thereof, and when the shuttle is hit by the picker stick to send it across the weft, the bobbin will rock upwardly in the opening H and cause its free end to assume the position as illustrated in Figure 8, and when the shuttle is driven across the loom from one box to the other, it will engage the Warp threads and cause a so-called smash and to avoid this smash, I have provided an ad- 5 juster member designated generally 40 in Figure 5, which consists of a block provided with horns 4! on either side with an inclined recessed portion 42 between them. This inclined portion is of substantially the same inclination as: the 70 guiding surface 29 of the guide 25, while the horns 4! are spaced apart a distance substantially the width of the stock of the U-shaped fixed guide 25.

V This block 40 will rest upon the surface of the 75 lower arm of the fixed guide 21 and will slide These jaws along being guided in its movement by the horns 4|, which project along either side of the portion 29 thereof. The adjuster member is urged forwardly by a spring 43 engaging the member and encircling the pilot 44 which projects to center the spring, while the other end of the spring abuts the spring jaws. The member thus projects its horns 4| to engage the end 38 of the bobbin 45 which has the rings positioned thereon nearer to the end 38 shown in Figure 3, and will exert a sufficient pressure upon this bobbin so that the end thereof cannot swing upwardly as shown in Figure 8, to cause a smash which is to be avoided.

The inclined surfaces 45 of these horns conform substantially to the inclined surface 29 and assist in guiding all bobbins in position while they hold the bobbin which has the rings positioned thereon nearer to the end 38 firmly and in spaced relation to the fixed guide 25, as illustrated in Figure 3, and yet yields to permit the longer bobbins to enter into the position in which they will engage the fixed guide while at the same time being engaged by the horns of this member 40, thus engaging the bobbin under a yielding pressure and at the outer periphery of the hub where the larger engaging surface is to be had.

By the use of a simple generally triangular block and short spring in this arrangement, bobbins of various lengths may be used indiscriminately without disrupting the loom operation, and also should the spring 43 become broken, the shuttle may still continue to operate with the longer bobbins in the accustomed manner.

The foregoing description is directed solely towards the construction illustrated, but I desire it to be understood that I reserve the privilege of resorting to all the mechanical changes to which the device is susceptible, the invention being defined and limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

I claim:

1.- In a shuttle for an automatic loom having spaced jaws, a member resiliently mounted in the opening for the bobbin and provided with spaced horns to engage the end of the head of the bobbin located in the shuttle, and a fixed bobbin guide located between said horns for guiding said member.

2. In a shuttle for an automatic'loom having spaced jaws, a member resiliently mounted in the opening for bobbins which have rings positioned on the head end thereof and provided with spaced horns to engage the end of bobbins where the distance from the rings to the end of the head thereof varies from a predetermined maximum distance located in the shuttle, and a fixed bobbin guide located between said horns for guiding said member, said fixed guide being of a lengthto also engage the end of the bobbins inserted in the shuttle having rings positioned thereon the maximum distance.

3. In an automatic loom shuttle having an opening for the reception of a bobbin with jaws therein, a member having spaced horns to engage the end of the head of a bobbin located in said shuttle, said member being movably mounted in the shuttle, a spring urging said member towards the end of the bobbin, and a fixed guide for limiting the movement of said member.

4. In an automatic loom shuttle having 'an opening for the reception of a bobbin, a member having spaced horns to engage the end of a bobbin located in said shuttle, said member being movably mounted in the shuttle, and a spring urging said member towards the end of the bobbin, said member being inclined on its upper surface for the guiding of the bobbin into position, and fixed means positioned between said spaced horns for limiting the movement of said member.

5. In an automatic loom shuttle having an opening for the reception of a bobbin, a member having spaced horns to engage the end of a bobbin located in said shuttle, said member being movably mounted in the shuttle, a spring urging said member towards the end of the bobbin, and a fixed guide for limiting the movement of said member, said member and fixed guide being inclined on their upper surfaces for the guiding of the bobbin into position.

6. In a shuttle, a pair of spring jaws for engaging the bobbin rings, a fixed bobbin guide between said jaws, and a member movable with reference to and guided by said guide and yieldingly urged into engagement with the end of the head of the bobbin when gripped by said jaws.

7. In a shuttle, a pair of spring jaws for engaging the bobbin rings, a fixed guide comprising a metal strip bent upon itself with its bend located between said jaws, a member slidably engaging the inner surface of one portion of said strip, and a spring engaging said member and urging it towards said bend, said member having portions projectable beyond said guide and into engagement with the bobbin.

8. In a shuttle, a pair of spring jaws for engaging the bobbin rings, a fixed guide comprising a metal strip bent upon itself with its bend located between said jaws, a member slidably engaging the inner surface of one portion of said strip, and a spring engaging said member and urging it towards said bend, and spaced horns on said member projecting on either side of said fixed guide to engage the end of the bobbin and guide the movement of said member.

9. In a shuttle for an automatic loom, holding jaws notched to receive the rings on the head of a bobbin, a member having spaced horns to engage the end of the head of said bobbin, a spring urging said member towards said end, and means for limiting the movement of said members.

10. In a shuttle for an automatic loom, holding jaws notched to receive the rings on the head of a bobbin, a fixed guide having a portion positioned to engage the end of said head, the space between the engaging surface of said portion and the notches in the jaws being substantially equal to the space between the end of the head and the rings thereon, and a member resiliently mounted adjacent to said jaws for engaging and exerting a pressure on said end.

11. In a shuttle, holding jaws notched to receive the rings on the head of a bobbin, means for exerting a pressure on the end of said head having a predetermined maximum distance between the rings and the end thereof, and a second means resiliently mounted to engage and exert a pressure on said end when said distance is said maximum and when said distance is less than said maximum.

HARRY DEMAINE. 

